Lost all power to car after trying to start

atw257

This is for a 2013 automatic with zero modifications.

My girlfriend pulled into her parking spot and turned the car off. She then realized that she was on the line a bit, so she got back in the car and tried to start it up when the car completely died. No lights came on, the key fob wouldn't unlock or lock the car, absolutely nothing. I finally made it to her house and checked the battery with a multi-meter, because I assumed her battery had just died. I was reading 12.8 VDC on the battery, so everything looked fine there. I got in the car and the break peddle was locked up as well as the steering wheel, and absolutely no lights would turn on.

I unhooked the negative battery terminal for a few minutes and replaced it. I was then able to start the car. I then turned the car off and tried turning it on again and it started to turnover and then completely lost power again.

Once again I disconnected the negative terminal and reconnected it. I was able to start and restart the car multiple times this time around without losing power.

Not sure if anyone has ran into this, but I'm not sure what the main cause was here, and if it is going to happen to her again.

Any help would be appreciated.